Muhammed Ali Khan

Group 10

Muhammed Ali Khan

Michael Gannon

Michael Peffers

Ahmad Buleybel

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

As fresh Engineers, we are looking to provide solutions to the energy supply in a green manner. And a great way of doing that is using natural resources, mainly using PVC also known as Photovoltaic Cell or Solar Cell. The idea is to create a solar farm within the property of the UCF campus so we can cut down the energy cost. A solar farm is just like any other farm, except it doesn’t grow fruits and vegetables and does not need irrigation. However, it does need sunlight to produce desired results. For our senior design project we are only going to consider one array since building a PVC farm is not feasible.

An array of solar panels will be installed on campus. The array will consist of 12 solar panels. The installation and connection of the panels will be done at the field reserved for the future PVC farm. Mounting will be done with the help of mechanical engineers. All the panels will be connected in series connection. The most important part of our project is the panel monitoring. Each panel would be connected to a voltage, current, and temperature sensor determining the output voltage, current, and temp. from each panel. The sensors will then send the data to a microcontroller. Microcontroller will send the data a wireless component and finally the wireless component will communicate with our base computer to display the data. This will allow us to monitor each panel output voltage, current and power individually. For example, if panel X is producing only 100 volts and it is supposed to produce 150 volts, by wireless computer monitoring, we will know it is panel X that is malfunctioning and needs maintenance. We can then approach the problem directly for maintenance or troubleshooting.

The solar panels when exposed to sunlight generate DC electricity, while there are some appliances available that will run directly from DC, most appliances require AC. In order to switch the current type, we will need a Power Inverter. The inverter will be connected to solar panels to provide the conversion before reaching into the power grid. Once the inverter is connected to the grid, we can start taking advantage of the renewable energy. The grid is responsible for supplying AC electricity to the power outlets in households. So, this renewable energy will be supplementing the power supplied by the power company, hence, reducing the amount of purchasing of energy from power companies.

We will not be storing any energy or charge batteries for later use as our peak power consumption timing matches with the timing of peak solar energy. All the power generated will be used completely on daily basis. This project is not intended for UCF to be completely independent and self sufficient of energy. The idea behind this project is to cut UCF’s electricity costs. We still need to have energy providers since solar farm will only be producing a fraction of energy during rainy days.

1.2 MOTIVATION:

1.2.1 UCF GOING GREEN:

There are multiple things that motivate our team on this project. For one every member on the team wanted to be a part of a project that would challenge us, and make an impact in the real world. It was that the Mr. Norvell presented his power point presentation, challenging a group to design a solar array with panel by panel monitoring. This project offers us multiple benefits as engineers. Firstly it allows us to work hand in hand with industrial, mechanical, and a client. This is preparing us with real world experience on a team orientated environment. Second this project offers the opportunity to research, design, and develop our own independent circuit board, another part of real world experience. Lastly this project allows us as engineers to help UCF accomplish its goal of being 100% neutral by the year 2050. With this project Mr. Norvell is aiming to one day alleviate UCF of 12 - 15% of its energy consumption from the grid. Our team is also motivated with the knowledge that is design well and built correctly UCF will invest in building a 3 Megawatt photovoltaic field. Using our design to build this photovoltaic field would add a great resume piece to every team member involved.

1.2.2 ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS:

Another huge motivational tool for our group is the enormous environmental benefit from the project. After burning fossil fuels for hundreds of years and leaving a large carbon footprint many private organizations, government organizations, and even individuals are looking towards cleaner power. With everything in the US turnings its attention to “going green” renewable energy sources like solar energy is becoming more and more popular. With growing concerns on the depletion of the ozone layer and the green house effect there has never been a more urgent time to look into renewable energy sources. It is our ambition as a group to join this “green”, earth-saving movement that drives us on this project as young and fresh engineers. The time for changing the world is now, and as up and coming engineers the responsibility is ours.

1.3 GOALS AND OBJECTS:

1.3.1 MONITORING:

For this project our team has many objectives and goals. The objective of this project to design and build a 3 kilo-watt 12 panel photovoltaic array that will serve as the prototype for arrays that will one day make up a 3 mega-watt photovoltaic farm. A secondary objective for this project to is build a independent panel by panel monitoring system. To complete this monitoring systems many goals were set. First we would have to design a circuit board from the ground up that will take in three different variables. Once the variable are collected they will be converted from analog to digital then sent wirelessly to a web based computer. From this the data will be available anywhere it is needed. The three variables selected to be monitored from each panel was the panel’s voltage, current, and temperature. This panel by panel monitoring system has many advantages for the client. First they can monitor their photovoltaic farm from anywhere with internet. Secondly they can not only determine when the array or farm is not performing like expected, but they can determine the exact panels not performing and perform the adequate maintenance. This not only allows the client to keep their farm running at full power, it takes a lot of the stress, money, and time out of troubleshooting the system when performance is below 100%.

1.3.2 Energy Output (Power):

After designing the monitoring system a secondary objective of the project was to develop an array that would allow the client to multiply until desired energy output was reached. With UCF looking to build a 3 mega-watt photovoltaic farm our team set a goal of reaching a total of 3 kilo-watts of power out of our single array. This will allow us to present UCF with a design worth using when the 3 mega-watt photovoltaic farm is built.

1.4 SPECS & BUDGET PROJECTION:

· 12 - 240W Monocrystalline panels

· Panels will be connected in series

· Mounted at a 28 degree angle

· 37.4V Open Circuit Voltage, 30.1V Maximum Power Voltage

· 8.65A Short Circuit Current, 7.98 Maximum Power Current

· Panel Dimensions: 39.1” Wide, 64.6” Tall, 1.8” Thick

· Weight: 44.1lbs/ 20.0 kg

· Operating Temperature -40 to 194 degrees F

· 1 – Fronius IG 4000 Inverter

· Recommended PV power 3000-5000 Wp

· Max. DC Input Voltage 500V, Operating DC Voltage 150-450V

· Max. usable DC input current 26.1A

· Inverter Dimensions: 16.5” Wide, 28.4” Long, 8.8” high

· Weight: 42lbs/ 19kgs

· Operating Temperature: -5 to 122 degrees F

· 12 – Small circuit boards collecting voltage, current, and temp from each panel.

· 1 – Main circuit board collecting the data once a minute from smaller boards using a PIC18F series microcontroller with at least 3 I/O pins.

· 1 – wireless device able to transmit data 800 yards

· 3 – 16:1 Multiplexers

· Solar panels will be no more than $10,000

· Circuit board design and construction will be no more than $800

· Mounting system will be no more then $1000

· Inverter will be no more then $4000

The specifications and requirements above are tentative, as the project progresses we might adjust them. The adjustments will be based on hardware limitations and cost vs. efficiency considerations. After building and testing the system we will have a better idea on budget assessments, and parts used.

1.5 DIVISION OF LABOR:

Our team consists of four members, all electrical engineers. After a detailed team discussion, we improvised the chart in Figure 1 that shows the breakdown of the amount of work involved in the project. Each member is responsible for their individual tasks as well as to let the group know any important details that could affect other group member’s tasks. Even though each member is responsible for their own specific task, we have weekly meetings to discuss what one has achieved so far and teach all the group members about their learning of their part of the project. In this case, all the members will be equally knowledgeable about the project however, only one member will specialize in the details and specifications of each part. So when the prototyping begins, we will assign the right member for the specific part of the project. Figure 1 merely represents the specialties each member is expected to achieve at the end of the senior design I.

Ahmad’s main responsibilities:

· To define the connectivity between the panels

· Define the functionality and need of current, voltage and temp. sensors

· Research for the most economical solar panels

· Research for suitable current, temperature and voltage sensors

· Design the panel connection

· Help in design the schematics of the circuit board

Ali’s main responsibilities:

· Define the function of an inverter

· Define the wireless connection and benefits of wireless connectivity

· Research the best wireless device to connect solar panels to a microcontroller

· Communication between the microcontroller and the base station

· Help in designing of the schematics

· Making sure the PCB is in good shape

· Test all the wireless connections

Mike P.’s main responsibilities:

· Define the functionality of a microcontroller in collaboration with Ali

· Assist Ahmad to define the functions of sensors

· Research various microcontrollers and their programming language

· Look for various schematics of the connections of the microcontrollers

· Solder all the sensors and components which are not done by the PCB vendor

· Test the PCB for any potential damage

Mike G.’s main responsibilities:

· Define the goals of the project

· Describe the motivations to pick this project as our senior design

· Define the goals and outcome of the project

· Research for the architecture of the system

· Analyze previous similar projects

· Analyze the data sheet of previous projects